Slotted pipe cable guide



Feb. 25, 1958 N. H. JENSEN ET AL SLOTTED PIPE CABLE GUIDE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan 3. 1956 BY lVz m mb n mJ iz fiafm WWW? fl Feb. 25, 1958 N. H. JENSEN El AL SLOTTED PIPE CABLE GUIDE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 3, 1956 b- 1958 N. H. JENSEN ETAL 2,824,576

SLOTTED PIPE CABLE GUIDE Filed Jan. 3, 1955 4 sheds-sheet s c6 6 4 SK m E w MA INVENTORS,

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 N. H. JENSEN ETAL SLOTTED PIPE CABLE GUIDE ulllllllllllill Feb. 25, 1958 Filed Jan. 3, 1956 Y INVENTORS. fire/E Job/man. BY A/z'e/s H. Jense fl mzigh JflO/flll- United States Patent SLOTTED PIPE CABLE GUIDE Niels H. Jensen, Glenmore, and Axel F. Johnson, Paradise, Pa., assignors to Lukens Steel Company, Coatesville, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application January 3, 1956, Serial No. 556,894

Claims. (Cl. 138-48) This invention relates to a slotted pipe arrangement for guiding cables, hoses, ropes and other flexible objects across a fioor or other horizontally disposed surface.

Present methods for carrying cables across certain areas have certain limitations due to their inability to maintain a clear trough or trench and give proper protection against damage to the cables. Applicants improved guide structure eliminates these objections and allows considerably more latitude in the use of cables for many more applications.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved guide structure which is mounted entirely below a floor surface.

A further object of this invention is to provide a guide means with clean out boxes through which debris may be removed.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a heating means in the guide to thaw any snow that may fall into the guide or ice that may form therein.

Another object of this invention is to provide each clean out box with a slotted cover so that the cable may be drawn through the box with the cover in place.

Still another object of this invention is to provide spaced supporting members in the guide for the cable.

Other objects will appear hereinafter throughout the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of our cable guiding means showing one of the clean out boxes with the cover omitted;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 2, showing the slotted pipe structure embedded in concrete or other supporting material;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a cover for one of the clean out boxes and the adjacent pipe structure;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the clean out box of Figure 5 and the adjacent pipe structure with a portion of one side plate broken away to show the relationship of the plates and the cover;

Figure 7 is a vertical section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a side view showing the tool used to remove debris from the bottom of the pipe, a part of the handle being broken away;

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken longitudinally of the pipe and showing a machine which may be used to carry the cable;

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Figure 9, showing the relation of the plow member to the slot in the guide structure;

Figure 11 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 1111 of Figure 9, showing one of the roller guide means and its relation to the cable; and

Patented Feb. 25, 1958 Figure 12 is a vertical section on the line 1212, showing the other roller guide and its supporting means.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawing by reference character, the guide structure comprises a pipe 2 which may be embedded in concrete 4, or otherwise supported below a floor surface. The top of pipe 2 is provided with longitudinally spaced slots 6, the portions of the pipe wall between the slots being shown at 8. The portions 8 serve to support the cable as it is pulled along the top of the pipe. The super structure of the guide means comprises angle bars 10 welded or otherwise secured to the top of the pipe. These bars are arranged in pairs spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the width of the slots 6. One flange 12 of each angle bar is vertically disposed and the other flange 14 extends outwardly of the upper edge of the flange 12.

Each vertical flange 12 has its inner face substantially flush with the corresponding edge of the slot so that the space between the vertical flanges of each pair of angle bars forms a continuation of the slot in the pipe. The angle bars 10 are each reinforced by spaced plates 16 which extend at right angles to the flanges 12 and 14 and are secured to and substantially span the space between the adjacent portions of the pipe and said flanges.

The top portion of the pipe 2 is cut away at spaced intervals to form clean out boxes in which dirt, snow or water which may fall through the slots may be collected for discharge through the tubular drain 26 at the bottom of the box to a suitable sewer or other disposable means. One of these clean out boxes is shown in the drawing and comprises four plates welded together to form a rectangular open ended member 18 secured in a cut-away portion of the pipe. This cut-away portion extends approximately halfway into the upper side of the pipe 2, as clearly shown in Figure 3. The Width of the member 18 is substantially equal to the diameter of the pipe so that the sides 20 of the member are flush with the sides of the pipe. The other two plates 22 of the member 18 are of substantially rectangular shape and each is provided with an upwardly opening notch 24 in its upper edge conforming in shape to the slot 6 in the pipe 2.

The plates 22 are also welded to adjacent ends of the angle bars 10 and to the edges of the cut-out portions of the pipe. Each clean out box is provided with a cover 32 which comprises two spaced horizontally disposed top plates 34 and a pair of spaced vertically disposed plates 36 arranged below and with one plate at each side of the space between the top plates 34 so that they form a slot 38 in the cover in alignment with the slots 6 in the pipe. Each cover also comprises a pair of spaced plates 40 similar in shape to the plates 22 and welded to the plates 34 and 36. As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the plates 40 are arranged at right angles to the plates 34 and 36 and have their lower corners cut away at 42 to allow the cover to be more easily inserted into the box. When the cover is in place on the box, the outer edges of the plates 34 will engage the upper edges of the side plates 20 which are spaced below the upper surfaces of the angle bar flanges 14 a distance equal to the thickness of the cover plates 34 so that the top of the cover wiil be flush with the top of the guide at each side of the box. The plates 34, 36 and 40 are rigidly secured together as by welding. The top plates of the cover are each provided with openings 43 as seen in Figure 5 through which an object may be inserted for handling the cover. The dimensions of the cover plates 40 are such that these plates fit within the sides 20 of the box, while the two plates 40 at the end of the cover fit into the box adjacent to plates 22.

A screen 28 is provided over the upper end of the drain 26 to prevent clogging of the drain. This screen may be held in place by any suitable means such as a wire spring 3 loop 30 secured to the screen at one end and having its other end inserted into the drain and resiliently engaging the inner surface of the drain.

In areas where snow is likely to get through the slot and into the pipe, or where water is likely to enter and freeze, the pipe may be provided with an electric heater cable 44, or some similar heating means such as a steam line.

Figures 2 and 4 of the drawing show the guide means embedded in concrete, but it will be understood that any other suitable means may be used to support the guide means below the surface of a floor.

Dirt and other objectionable matter which may fall through the slots into the pipe may be removed from the pipe by a hoe-like tool 46 shown in Figure 8. As shown in this figure, this tool is flattened so that it can be readily inserted through the slots into the pipe and then turned ninety degrees into a position to push dirt or other matter to one of the clean out boxes where it can be readily pushed down the pipe 26 or lifted out of the box.

The term cable used in this specification is intended to cover any cable, hose, rope, pipe or other flexible elongated object capable of being drawn through the slotted guide.

The plates, pipe and bars which form the box, guide and cover structures are described as being welded together but it will be understood that any other suitable means may be used, particularly if they are not made of metal.

The plates 40 used in the box cover are shown to be three in number, but it will be understood that the central plate could be omitted or the number increased, if desired.

A suitable carriage 48, such as shown in Figure 9, may be used to pull a cable 49 through the guide. As shown, the carriage is provided with wheels 50 and a reel 52 on which the cable is wound. The carriage is also provided with a depending plow-like member 54 which travels along in the slot formed by the angle bars above the pipe to clean the guide of any debris as the carriage moves over the floor surface. A roller guide 56 is carried by the carriage adjacent the floor and serves to guide the cable as it is unwound from the reel.

In order to further guide the cable 49 and align it with the slot formed between the angle bars 10, we provide an additional guide means 58 between the reel 52 and the roller guide 56. The guide means 58 comprises a rectangular frame member 60 which carries two sets of rollers arranged with their pivots at right angles to each other. The rollers 62 of one set are arranged to rotate in a vertical plane while the rollers 64 of the other set rotate in a longitudinal plane as clearly shown in Figure 12.

The rollers 62 and 64 are each provided with a groove on its periphery to conform to the shape of the cable 49. The frame 60 may be supported from the carriage 48 by any suitable means such as the brackets 66 which are secured to the frame 60 at one end and to the frame of the carriage at the other end. The plow member 54 and the guide means 56 and 58 are mounted centrally of the carriage 48 so that when the carriage moves over the surface of the floor the wheels will'straddle the slot therein.

The above description and drawings disclose one embodiment of the invention, and specific language has been employed in describing the figures. It will, nevertheless, be understood that no limitations of the scope of the invention are thereby contemplated, and that various alterations and modifications may be. made as would occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

We claim:

1. A cable guide comprising a substantially horizontally disposed pipe, spaced notches in the upper side of said pipe opening into the passage through said pipe, spaced slots extending through the wall of said pipe be tween said notches, said slots extending longitudinally of said pipe and being in substantial alignment with the axis of said pipe, the portions of said pipe between said slots serving to support a cable as it is pulled through the guide, a hollow rectangular box comprising a pair of members extending transverse to and a second pair of members extending longitudinally of the axis of said pipe, said transverse members each having a cable receiving opening notch in substantially the same plane as said slots, said box being open at two ends and being secured in each of said notches to form clean-out openings for the guide, a pair of spaced bars extending from said box and secured to said pipe, said bars being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the width of said slots and disposed with their opposed faces substantially flush with the sides of said slots, and a cover for each of said clean-out openings, said cover having a slot arranged in the same vertical plane as said slots in said pipe and the space between said bars so that a cable may be pulled through the guide when each cover is mounted over its clean-out opening.

2. A cable guide as in claim 1, wherein each of said bars has a horizontally disposed outwardly extending flange at its upper edge and adapted to be arranged sub stantially flush with the floor surface of the structure in which said guide is mounted.

3. A cable guide as in claim 1, wherein said pipe is provided with a discharge opening below said clean-out opening, and a readily removable screen mounted over said discharge opening.

4. A cable guide as in claim 1, wherein said guide is reinforced by spaced plates arranged'at right angles to said bars and secured to said bars and said pipe.

5. A cable guide as in claim 1, wherein the notches of said members of each box are of the same width and depth as the space between the bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,846,550 Gottwald Feb. 23, 1932 2,046,410 Porter et al. July 7, 1936 

